From the Kent State protests to the Kony 2012 campaign, there is an undeniable trend that April showers bring a little more than May flowers: zealous youth with enough energy to fight literally any type of “injustice.” Whether this injustice is economic, political, social, environmental or—in Washington University’s case—a little of everything, there is a dedicated group of college students out there ready to support what is right. In fact, it may even be our duty as neophytes to academia to carry on this noble tradition. While you may not support the goals of a certain peaceful protest, it is doing us a civil service. Broaching discussion about important issues is invaluable to our society plagued by political lethargy and unbreakable polarization

This spring, the divestment movement has taken Wash. U. by storm. One of its goals is to have the administration cut all ties with the infamous Peabody Energy Corporation, the largest private sector coal company. Peabody has a litany of legitimate injustices brought against it. It undeniably dealt unfairly with Navajo and Hopi tribes. Little to no information was offered to the workers of these mines before the elders of the Navajo Nation made a decision. Peabody employed the tested and proven method of blinding the indigenous people of America with money and promise of improvement. As a result of their agreement, Peabody has relocated Navajo settlements and drained the precious aquifer under the Navajo lands. Washington University should not have supported the colonial method of indigenous persuasion, also known as lying, that white settlers used to gain ownership tribal lands.

Peabody also dumped its pensioners on spinoff company Patriot Coal to avoid paying for health care and benefits in 2007. In fact, Patriot, the dumpsite of Peabody retirees, had three times as many retirees as actual workers, 90 percent of which never worked for Patriot. Patriot eventually declared bankruptcy and requested to be released of pension obligations totaling $1.3 billion. Believe it or not, this brutal strategy was employed by none other than Peabody, under the leadership of Gregory H. Boyce, our beloved trustee member.

So what can the divestment movement do to cut Wash. U’s affiliation with this robber baron? The answer is that it has done as much as it can so far. It has the public’s attention and has made clear actions to open dialogue with the administration. Unfortunately, the board of trustees keeps Wash. U.’s financials well-hidden from the eyes of its students. So the divestment movement’s first goal is to increase financial transparency so we can see to what extent Peabody funds our school. Secondly, it requests that Boyce be removed from the board of trustees, primarily for the blatantly unethical worker treatment that occurred under his leadership. What does it take for the administration to address this civil and reasonable request? If a sit-in isn’t enough, then I don’t know what is.

Show your support for your fellow classmates concerned by the guarded secrets of our school’s finances as they challenge the administration to come down from Olympus and converse with us, the students, about Peabody’s role in our school. The divestment movement has done everything right. The burden of action has been shifted to the administration. All we want is discussion. Is it really that hard?